Excelsa Trees Research Articles

Diet and nectarivorous foraging behaviour of the short‐tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata)

AbstractThere are two microchiropteran bat species in New Zealand: the long‐tailed bat Chalinolobus tuberculatus and the short‐tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata. Both species coexist on Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. In this study we examined the diet of M. tuberculata, and the activity levels of both bat species associated with Metrosideros excelsa, a native flowering plant and potential nectar source, on Little Barrier Island. Between November 1994 and February 1996, M. tuberculata were caught in mist‐nets, and their faecal pellets were collected for later dietary analysis. In addition, pollen samples were collected from the fur of bats caught during December 1995 and January 1996. Faecal analysis showed that M. tuberculata on Little Barrier Island exhibits a high degree of omnivory, with its diet comprising flying and non‐flying arthropods, and also pollen and other plant material. During December 1995 and January 1996, the activity levels of both bat species associated with flowering and non‐flowering M. excelsa trees were investigated by recording bat echolocation calls with automatic detecting and recording units. Significantly higher numbers of M. tuberculata echolocation calls were recorded near flowering M. excelsa trees than near non‐flowering ones, whereas the numbers of C. tuberculatus calls did not differ significantly between flowering and non‐flowering trees. These results contribute further to the existing evidence for nectarivory in M. tuberculata.

Influence of remnant trees on nutrients and fallow biomass in slash and burn agroecosystems in Guinea

Three tree species are traditionally conserved in the traditional slash and burn agricultural system practiced for the production of upland rice (Oryza sativa Linn.) in the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea, i.e. (Parinari excelsa [Sabine], Parkia biglobosa [Jacq.) Benth.], Erythrophleum guinensis [G. Don.]). Sampling a chronosequence of fallow sites indicated that extractable P; exchangeable K, Ca and Mg; cation exchange capacity (CEC) and pH all decreased over the fallow period with patterns that differed with soil depth. Soils under the remnant Parinari excelsa and Parkia biglobosa trees had higher concentrations of organic C; total N; extractable P; exchangeable K, Ca and Mg; total P and Ca; and CEC than did the open microsites. Extractable P; exchangeable K, Ca and Mg; total P and Ca; and CEC were greater under Parinari excelsa than under Erythrophleum guinensis. Intensive measurements of a single mature fallow site showed that the foliar nutrient concentration of the large trees was not an accurate index of which microsite had the greatest accumulation of biomass and nutrients in the aboveground fallow vegetation. The biomass and the total amounts of N, P, K, Ca and Mg in the fallow vegetation were significantly greater for the Parinari excelsa and Parkia biglobosa microsites than for the open microsites. We conclude that although the nutrient status of the soils decreased over the 8-year fallow period, the microsites under the large trees were generally more fertile than the open microsites. However, there were important differences in the effects of the different tree species.

DESENVOLVIMENTO DE ÁRVORES NATIVAS EM ENSAIOS DE ESPÉCIES. 4. CASTANHA-DO-BRASIL (Bertholletia excelsa Η. B. K.), DEZ ANOS APÓS O PLANTIO

Três parcelas experimentais de Bertholletia excelsa (Castanha-do- Brasil) foram implantadas na Estação Experimental de Silvicultura Tropical do INPA/Manaus, em 1980, com o objetivo de obter dados sobre o crescimento da espécie com fins de produção de madeira e frutos. O sistema de plantio adotado foi em plena abertura, sobre Latossolo vermelho-amarelo, no espaçamento de 3,0 x 3,0 m. Foram observados, aos 10 anos, os seguintes resultados, diâmetro médio (DAP) de 13,9 cm e a altura total média de 15,41 m; os valores máximos de diâmetros e alturas encontrados foram de 21,7 cm e 23,0 m. respectivamente; a área basal média por hectare foi de 11,7098 nr. correspondendo a um volume médio de 117391 m3/ha; a espécie apresentou ótima desrama natural, boa adaptação ao Latossolo vermelho - amarelo, 69,44% de sobrevivência média, boa forma de fuste, não tendo sido verificadas doenças ou pragas.

�ber die Funktionen, die die gesetzm�ssige Entwicklung der G�rungspilze (Saccharomyces spec.) ausdr�cken und Zusammenfassung anderer Resultate

Author continues the publication which appeared in the Acta Biotheoretica I, p. 113–132, regarding his results obtained in course of research work on superior plants:Picea excelsa trees, and furthermore on unicellular living beings, namely yeast cells (Saccharomyces spec). Author made a pure culture with the unicellular culture method, and by occasional inoculation produced successors therefrom. He established the progress in development by measuring, according to weight, the CO2 which arose in course of life. The ontogenetic course of development of the original culture as well as that of the successors took the form ofS but theseS curves were not equally precipitous (Fig. 1). When he drew theS-formed development curves in the measure of their time of inoculation in a rectangular co-ordinate system, he received a wave-surface (Fig. 2). When he intersected the wave-surface with the abscissa and the plane parallel with the vertical axis, wave-like lines were the result, which resembled vibratory motion evolving around an axis producing a regular picture (Fig. 3). Research has ascertained that the axis follows the laws of aperiodic vibratory motion, the undulating curve corresponds with the phenomenon of periodic vibratory motion, both of which are derived from the common differential equationd2s/dt2 + 2r ds/dt +w2s=o. Any point of thesh axis following the aperiodic vibratory motion is given by the following equation: $$s_h = a_1 e^{ - r_1 t} \cdot \frac{{e^{ + t\sqrt {r_1 ^2 - w_1 ^2 } } - e^{ - t\sqrt {r_1 ^2 - w_1 ^2 } } }}{2} \cdot \cdot \cdot \cdot \cdot $$ (8a) while the wave-curve showing thesh periodic movement is given by the following equation: $$s_p = a_2 e^{ - r_2 t} \cos (t\sqrt {w_2 ^2 - r_2 ^2 } ) \cdot \cdot \cdot \cdot \cdot \cdot \cdot \cdot $$ (8b) The completey movement is made up of the total of the two vibratory movementsy=sh +sp. The research for the time being refers merely to the aperiodic axis. Calculations show that with thesh equation, the aperiodic axes belonging to all the sections (Fig. 4) can be followed exactly, as the time function oft, and moreover, the change according to time in the size of the w1, r1, a1 coefficients also shows definite regularity (Figs 5, 6, 7).

Flora of Zerafshan

IN a communication to the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalist (Proceedings, 1895, i.), M. Komaroff thus sketches the flora of the Zerafshan region of Russian Turkestan. The Aral-Caspian flora covers the lowlands up to the 1000 to 1500 feet level. Next comes the prairie, or Steppe, zone, which spreads up to about 3500 feet of altitude. In its upper parts it is characterised by Steppe-bushes, of which the almond-tree (Amygdalus spinosissimus, Bunge) is the most characteristic representative. Higher up, from 3500 to 6000, or 6200 feet, comes the zone of deciduous trees, which may be subdivided into a lower sub-zone of Mediterranean trees (Pistacia vera, Celtis aiistralis, Amygdalus communis, Acer monspessulanum, &c.), with a prevalence of fragrant Labiatæ, which attains approximately the 4500 feet level; and an upper sub-zone characterised by maple-trees (Acer lactum). The zone between 6000 feet and nearly 8500 feet is taken by the Juniperus-trees which correspond in Zerafshan to the coniferous trees of other regions. It is covered at its upper limits with rampant bushes of Juniferus nana and pseudosabina, Comarum, Cotoneaster, Lonicera, Astragalus, and so on. The Alpine zone attains the levels of 11,000 and 12,000 feet—the morainic plants, Didymophysa fedtschenkoana, Corydalis fedtschenkoana, Cerastium lithospermifolium, Saxifraga axillaris and Allardia tomentosa reaching the highest altitudes. On the Zerafshan glacier, at a spot where it was covered with some gravel, the author found specimens of Saxifraga axillaris, Epilobium latifolium, Arabis tibetica, Poa karatavica, and one Carex—a fact which shows how careful one must be in interpreting the real sense of plant-bearing strata imbedded amidst morainic deposits. It is also worthy of note, that the botanic zones of Zerafshan very much correspond to the zonal geological structure of the highlands. The Aral-Caspian flora covers the æolic deposits of the great desiccated inner sea of Central Asia; the Steppe flora covers the Loess girdle; the Mediterranean trees and shrubs occupy the limestones and the marls, while the Juniperus zone spreads over the crystalline slates and limestones, and the Alpine flora covers the higher granitic massives of the highlands. Man evidently alters to a great extent the character of the vegetation—pistachio-tree groves and the Juniperus excelsa trees being rapidly destroyed; while the hundreds of thousands of sheep which are brought every year to the Zerafshan mountains from the lowlands, entirely destroy the Alpine prairies—thickets of Artemisia dracunculus taking the place of the grasses.